TRAIKOS: Jordan Staal emerges from NHL's shadows to playoff spotlight once again

You’d be forgiven if you had simply given up and forgotten about him. It’s been that long since we last saw Staal. Or rather, saw him in the playoffs. Seven years, in fact, going back to when he was traded from Pittsburgh to Carolina in 2012. Which means, for seven years he’s been pretty much living in anonymity.

Well, the wait is over. It’s time for his (second) coming out party.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Staal said of finally being back in the playoffs, where he’s in the conference final for the first time in a decade. “It’s been a lot longer than I would have liked.”

The last seven years has not only robbed Staal of the chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, but it’s also robbed fans of watching a player who was once regarded as one of the top two-way centres in the NHL.

Staal, who was a second-overall pick in 2006, went to the playoffs in each of the six years he spent in Pittsburgh, including back-to-back trips to the Cup final. Because of that, he gained notoriety for his defensive play. With the Hurricanes, he might as well have been playing in Russia.

It’s not that Carolina is a small hockey market. It’s that it’s a small market that up until this season had gone nine years without hosting a playoff game.

Not being in the playoffs doesn’t just take you out of the spotlight — it makes you irrelevant. Staal had finished third in the Selke Trophy voting in 2010. Since coming to Carolina, he’s cracked the top-10 only once.

Then again, it’s not surprising. After all, it’s hard to win an individual award when you’re playing for a losing team. Just ask Edmonton’s Connor McDavid or Florida’s Aleksander Barkov.

“Everyone loves winners,” said Staal. “When you’re winning for your team, it’s unbelievable. It’s what you want to be part of as a group. But it’s good as individuals as well. You’re going to get recognized more and get more attention.

“For the guys in this group, it’s really great to see the attention they’re getting because they’ve worked really hard for it and they are really talented and really special players.”

Indeed, these playoffs have shone a light on Carolina’s Warren Foegele and Jaccob Slavin, as well as introduced the hockey world to 21-year-old Sebastian Aho and 19-year-old rookie Andrei Svechnikov. But they’ve also reminded us once again that Staal is as good as it gets when it comes to shutting down the opposition.

“I see the same things you’re seeing right now,” said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who was the team’s assistant coach in Staal’s first year in Carolina. “I’ve been seeing them for seven or eight years. Unfortunately, because we haven’t made the playoffs and we haven’t had success over the years, you don’t talk about those guys — and understandably.

“But his game’s been the exact same as it’s been every day since he’s been in our organization. I’m not seeing anything different.”

That might be true. But because it’s happening in the playoffs, where the games are magnified, we’re seeing it through a different lens.

In the first round, Staal was responsible for limiting Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson to just one even-strength goal — and no assists — at home where Carolina controlled the defensive match-ups. In a four-game sweep against the Islanders in the second round, Staal held their top line of Mathew Barzal, Jordan Eberle and Tom Kuhnhackl to a single even-strength assist.

If that weren’t impressive enough, he also scored four goals and nine points in 11 games, while recording a plus-8 rating.

Staal will have his hands full against the Boston Bruins, where Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and sometime winger David Pastrnak have combined for 16 goals and 32 points in 13 games. But he’s up for the challenge.

“I relish trying to win games,” said Staal. “If that’s the position I’m in, then so be it. It’s not just myself though. We have an unbelievable D corps — and linemates — that’s shut down some pretty good players. It’s been a fun ride so far. You can see a lot of guys stepping up and playing well. We’ll continue to do that.”

Staal is one of those who have stepped up. During the regular season, he had just 11 goals and 28 points in 50 games. But since the playoffs began, he and the Hurricanes have elevated their play and are getting noticed for it.

“We wanted to get back to relevancy and just get back to a team that’s competitive every year,” said Staal. “I think the longer we’ve gone in these playoffs, more people realize how good some of these young guys are on our team and obviously with that core it’s going to bring a lot of competitive years in the Carolina Hurricanes.”

After staying in the shadows for so many years, what does the 30-year-old veteran make of this newfound attention?

“It doesn’t hurt,” he said with a smile. “But I know who I am and the player I am and what I can do. I just try to do the same stuff I’ve done my whole career and help my team win. I’ve been fortunate to have gone this far.”

Rookie Svechnikov can be a ‘game-changer’

Andrei Svechnikov might have made news for challenging Alex Ovechkin to a fight — a decision that resulted in a concussion for the Carolina Hurricanes rookie. But as the playoffs have gone on, it’s his ability to generate offence that is getting attention.

“He’s the Russian mule out there,” said Hurricanes centre Jordan Staal. “Every shift he’s got the puck and it’s so hard to get it off him. He’s just got such great speed and obviously he can shoot the puck a million miles an hour.”

Heading into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, Svechnikov had scored three goals and one assist in five games. He was tied for third amongst rookies with 20 goals this season.

“He still makes mistakes as he’s going to,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the 19-year-old, who was the second-overall pick in last year’s draft. “We all have to understand that. But he has the potential to be a game-changer. When the puck’s on his stick in the offensive zone, there’s the potential for something good to happen. Those are special players.”

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.